Elections to the European Parliament are conducted on a proportional representation basis with each region of the country having a number of MEPs varying depending on the number of electors in the region in question. Essex is part of Easter Region which also takes in Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire and there are 7 MEPs for this Region, 3 of which are Conservatives.
 
Geoffrey van Orden is the Conservative MEP with responsibility for Essex. At the last European Elections in 2004, Geoffrey was number 1 on the Conservative list for the Region and as the Conservatives took the greatest number of votes, he took the first of the Eastern Region seats.
 
The European Parliament is elected for a fixed period of 5 years and consequently, the next elections are due to be held in June 2009.
 

GEOFFREY VAN ORDEN MBE

"I go to Brussels to speak up for British interests and for the people of Essex. I didn't become an MEP in order to promote the EU......I want us to govern our own country".

Since he was first elected Geoffrey has been consistent in his opposition to the EU project of European political integration. His robust views are reflected in his many newspaper columns, articles and speeches. At the same time, Geoffrey has tried to get the best from the EU for the people of the East of England. This includes support for road and rail improvements and initiation of the very successful BUILD scheme, which provided assistance to some 200 small businesses and over a thousand people using some £1 million of social and regional development funding. He is continually engaged on behalf of our farmers, fishermen and local businesses and on issues such as energy security, policing, opposing racism in football, and animal welfare.

He has mobilised the EU against the Mugabe tyranny in Zimbabwe and the military junta in Burma and helped cut off funding for terrorist organisations. As the Parliament's spokesman on Bulgaria and as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee with Turkey, he has been actively involved in some of the most difficult issues concerning EU enlargement. He regards enlargement as one of the few areas where the EU has made a useful contribution, helping extend the area of stability and prosperity across Europe while, at the same time, eroding the federalist ambition for an EU Superstate - "more widening means less deepening".

Objecting strongly to the 'Strasbourg circus', he has campaigned for just 'One Seat' for the European Parliament in Brussels. He has been a leading protagonist for the Conservatives in the European Parliament to leave the EPP Group and to set up a new political Group that better reflects a Conservative approach on the major issues concerning the EU.

On these issues, he has been resolute in his opposition to the European Constitution, to the Euro, to EU meddling in defence matters, to excessive and irrelevant regulation and to the constant interference of the EU in more and more aspects of our daily lives. He tabled the resolution in the European Parliament calling for a referendum on the Constitution. He strongly opposes the erosion of our national and local institutions and efforts to replace these with structures, such as Regional Assemblies, that fit more easily into the EU model. He has been among the strongest critics of the Government’s catastrophic asylum and immigration policies and failure to control our national borders.

Formerly a British Army officer with extensive counter-terrorist experience, Geoffrey has been a Conservative MEP since 1999. He is the Conservative spokesman on Defence and Security Policy, and a member and former Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is married to Fanny and they have three daughters. He spends half his week in Brussels and half in the constituency visiting schools, farms and businesses, and speaking to voluntary organisations, and Conservative Associations and branches. He welcomes invitations to speak.

He can be contacted at:

88 Rectory Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1RF

Tel: 01245 345188 Fax: 01245 269757

email: gvanorden@europarl.eu.int

web site: www.geoffreyvanorden.com